November 2019

That’s the thought I want to grab for this, my third its Our “Interrobang” Moment structure, leadership, and membership, is made to be (2019 State-of-the-Church message) re-cycled. I like the way Bishop Crutchfield once put it, that “what we do tomorrow is much more important than we did yesterday.” Senior Pastor Rev. Siegfried S. Johnson As anchored as we are in the theologies and Charge Conference traditions that have defined us and shaped our Pastor’s Report: heritage, no church should be static. This re-cycling theme is with us at Charge Conference each year, November 17, 2019 reading names of those to be removed through transfer or death, and seeing the names of those having joined the church. Church growth is all about Years ago telephone companies yanked the cord on re-cycling, gaining new members who covenant with residential phonebooks. In 2010 Verizon and AT&T us to support the church with requested exemptions from state mandates requiring prayers/presence/gifts/service/witness. Christ of the telecommunications companies to distribute residential Hills will be a vital and vibrant congregation only the phone books in paper form. It’s no wonder regulators extent we are being re-shaped (or, shall I say, re- granted the go-ahead to stop mass-printing residential cycled?) in a healthy way. phone books, since they had for years become a musty fixture of Americans’ kitchen counters, refrigerator tops, Perhaps you’re wondering about my title, Our and junk drawers. “Interrobang” Moment? I read an article in The Wall Street Journal that talked about changes in written In our day, most of us have our frequently called language, specifically, in . We all know numbers in our smart devices and, for other numbers, the standard punctuation marks: the period, the our first impulse is to check the Internet, not to drag out a , the and semi-colon, the , phone book. Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse, the , the , etc. tongue firmly in cheek, no doubt, wrote that “Anybody Written languages didn’t arrive as a gift from heaven who doesn’t have access to some kind of online way to complete with punctuation embedded into their look things up is probably too old to be able to read the orthography. No, but rather punctuation devices print in the white pages anyway!” gradually emerged, created by writers as aids to The world is vastly different from the time when the first express to the reader how they wish a thought to be read, making text more impactful. phone book was issued, in 1878, a mere 141 years ago. No book was needed. It was a single page covering the fifty customers of New Haven, Connecticut. The church, like languages, must evolve in order for the message to be more impactful. This is, of course,

A doctoral student at Northwestern University, writing her the tension we feel as a denomination, especially as dissertation on the history of phone books, wrote of its gradual disappearance, “It’s sort of heartbreaking . . . Continued on page 2

even though these books are essentially made to be destroyed .” Perhaps she might have said (to be more environmentally conscious), “made to be re-cycled.”

That’s the thought I want to grab for this, my third State- of -the-Church message to Christ of the Hills. The church

-- not in its essential theologies and core values -- but in

700 Balearic Road Hot Springs Village, AR 71909 501-922-4503 Website: www.cohumc.com

Continued from page 1

2020’s General Conference looms on the immediate All Saints Day horizon. What will be our way forward through and out of the intense polarization United Methodists feel Friday , Nov. 1 due to embracing opposite views on issues surrounding human sexuality? Labyrinth open More to the point of this State-of-the-Church message: what will the impact be on the local 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. church?! I ask that question with both a Question November 1 is All Saints Day. This is a time in the Mark (?) and an Exclamation Mark (!) – the liturgical year when we pause to celebrate the lives of Interrobang?! those who have joined the company of the saints within the last year. The circuitous path of the labyrinth is The Interrobang, blending those two marks into one symbolic of the spiritual journey we are on. It is a path mark, was first suggested in 1962 and is edging its that winds sometimes close to the center and sometimes way into our language. It’s simply a combination of a on the outer margins. This pathway represents the question and an exclamation. For example, if Chuck Miller reports TWO holes-in-one while playing in our spiritual journey that sometimes draws people near and church group this year at Cortez – not only in a sometimes far away from God-centered intention. Take single round but on the SAME nine– we might say, this opportunity to walk the labyrinth in prayer, light a candle, say a prayer in memory of your loved ones who “You did what??!!” The Interrobang is perfect for such a moment, the kind of story the national media have joined the Communion of Saints. picks up -- asking a Question of the hard-to-believe moment with an Exclamation.

In short, the Interrobang is the recognition of a Happening that has Bang to it. Which is why I like the Interrobang as a symbol for my 2019 State-of- the -Church message. It says something about where Choir Cantata I, as Senior Pastor, think we are. Question marks? You bet. We have them as we live into our new Sunday, structure, which we opened and dedicated in 2019. Yes, but let’s add an Exclamation Mark to those December 15 questions, for the future is bright with promise. 3:00 p.m. I count it an honor and a privilege to serve Christ of the Hills at the appointment of Bishop Mueller and his cabinet, along with my clergy colleagues, Rev. Feel the peace of the Christmas season Sheila Jones and Pastor Steve Friese. My goal is to help make 2020 an Interrobang kind of year for our through the Chancel Choir’s presentation of church as, in the midst of the questions surrounding And On Earth, Peace. With a 21-piece orchestra to accompany the 50+ voice choir, our denomination and our local congregation, we emphatically step forward to live into the many this special musical presentation will be opportunities afforded us by our unique demographic presented at CHO on Sunday, December, 15 at in Hot Springs Village. 3:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. Familiar carols, classic Christmas tunes, beautiful new Siegfried S. Johnson Christmas selections and featured solosts Sr. Pastor Jennifer, Sweet, Kristen McCauley and Daryl Taylor will fill our sanctuary with joyous music as we retell the story of the birth of the Prince of Peace.

The Office will be closed on Thursday Be sure to invite your friends and neighbors to and Friday, November 28 & 29. In share in this special musical offering for the Christmas season. case of emergency, please e-mail [email protected] or leave a message on the answering machine.

Advent Study ALTAR FLOWERS 4 Tuesdays If you would like to give flowers for November 19-December 17 morning worship services in memory or 1:00-2:30 p.m. in honor of a loved one, or to celebrate an anniversary, birthday or special event, here is some helpful information: “A remarkable gift can arrive in an unremarkable package. One did in  There is a book in the Information Bethlehem more than 2,000 years Center for you to select a date and sign your name. Pages for 2020 have ago. No one expected God to already been added to the book. come the way he did. Yet the way  You pay the church, which in turn will pay the florist. He came was every bit as important as the coming itself.  Flower prices are as follows: $35 for a vase of altar The manger is the message. In this four-session video Bible flowers; $35 for flowers on the visitor’s table; $42 for study, Max Lucado will help YOU explore how the One who flowers on the fellowship table and $40 for The Gathering made everything chose to make himself nothing for us. He Altar experienced hunger and thirst. He went through the stages  If you wish to give a rosebud, please call the office with of human development. He was taught to walk, stand, and the information you wish printed in the bulletin. Cost of the wash his face. He was completely and genuinely human. rosebud is $10.  Persons who give flowers may take their flowers Because of Bethlehem, we no longer have marks on our following the second service, or by noon on Monday. record . . . just grace. We have the promise that God is  Please return the green sleeve and/or the white vase always near us, always for us, always within us—and that which contain the flowers by Wednesday noon of the same we have a friend and Savior in heaven. Long after the guests week. have left, the carolers have gone home, and the lights have come down, these promises endure.” The cost for the participant book is $5.00. You may sign up in the Information Center. It will be helpful for you to st Meets the first & read the Introduction and 1 Chapter prior to the first class. third Thursday of Please join us for this inspiring study. If you have questions, each month at please contact Pastor Sheila at 922-4503. 11:00 a.m.

If you are caring for someone, feeling alone and need to share with others, this group may be A Reminder from United helpful for you. Methodist Women: The Angel Tree will be in Fellowship Call Art Jungnickel at 922-4888 for more Hall in December. Members may information. select an angel tag from the tree and purchase gifts for a child to make their Christmas brighter. Advent Devotional

The Wondrous Mystery Join us Sunday, November 4, as we give thanks and celebrate “ The Wondrous Mystery” from those in our congregation who Weavings invites readers to reflect on several have gone before us in the faith paradoxes that make up the Advent season: light and during the past year. darkness, peace and strife, solitude and community, simplicity and complexity. Beginning Sunday, From the early days of Christianity, there is a sense December 1, a daily devotional will be available by e- that the Church consists of not only all living believers, mail for you to use during the season of Advent. You may receive it each day via e-mail or you may but also all who have gone before us. For example, in pick up a printed copy in the Information Center the last Hebrews 12 the author encourages Christians to week of November. If you wish to receive the e-mail, remember that a “great cloud of witnesses” surrounds please sign up in the Information Center or us, encouraging us, cheering us on. e-mail [email protected].

RICE DEPOT VOLUNTEERS 1st Thursday and Friday 3rd Thursday and Friday Leave the Upper Parking Lot at 8:00 a.m. All COH men are welcome to come and help

Be sure to join us FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8th at 8:30 a.m. ( time change to winter meeting hour)

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin Tim Griffin grew up in Magnolia, a fifth -generation Arkansan and the youngest son of a minister and teacher. He was elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas on November 4, 2014, and was re-elected for his second four-year term on November 6, 2018. He is focused on growing jobs through aggressively pursuing economic development, more parental choice in education and boldly reforming state government. For 2019, he is serving as Chairman of the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association (RLGA).

From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District. While in Congresses he advocated for bold tax reform.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for over 23 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. He is currently serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment (LOD) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In July 2018, Lieutenant Governor Griffin, in his capacity as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, received his Master’s Degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Graduate from the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, Tulane Law School in New Orleans and attended graduate school at Oxford University in England.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this special program for the UMM. Please sign up in the Information Center so they know how many to plan for breakfast. Cost of breakfast is $2.

Help support the United Methodist Men in their mission work with these projects:

Recycle Reduce pollution Raise funds for missions ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CAN COLLECTION: Please support the mission work of the United Methodist Men by depositing your empty aluminum cans in the UMM Used Printer Cartridges trailer located in the far corner of the upper parking Please support the mission work of the United Methodist lot. Drive by any day of the Men by recycling used printer cartridges. You will find a week and make your recycle box in Fellowship Hall (under the table by the office deposit. Your contributions door) for the collection of used cartridges by our church are greatly appreciated! members, friends and neighbors. These cartridges must be genuine cartridges with print Heads NOTE: PLEASE MAKE (HP, Canon, Dell, Apple, Compaq, SURE YOUR CANS ARE Lexmark, etc.). They cannot be SECURELY BAGGED—- damaged, remanufactured, refilled, NO LOOSE CANS!! or ink tanks (without print head). No laser toners, please. PLEASE BRING BEVERAGE CANS ONLY.

UMW Volunteer Dates for Arkansas Food Bank Tuesday, November 12 and Thursday, November 14

All women of Christ of the Hills are invited to travel to Little Rock to the Arkansas Food Bank. You are welcome to go on just one of the available days, or both days . In just the few hours we are there we package food items that will literally feed hundreds of people. It is a great way to make a difference! We carpool from the lower parking lot leaving at 8:00 am, and return home after lunch around 2 pm. If you are able to participate, please contact Kristi Chance at 501-915-0357 or [email protected].

Thanksgiving Food Basket Donations Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner and The UMW Social Action Committee is asking you to share from your abundance and lend a helping hand to those in our area who are less fortunate. We are asking for donations to purchase food for Thanksgiving baskets. Please make your check payable to Christ of the Hills UMW noting it is for Thanksgiving baskets. If you have any questions, call Jeanette Keim at 501-915-9838 or e-mail [email protected]

Please remember those in need in our community as we start this holiday season.

For Every Mary, there is a Martha, or Is There?

The unusual thing about the Martha’s in our Martha Circle at COHUMC is that our Marthas have different skill sets. One Martha may measure, cut, and prepare fleece “blankets,” to be serged (serger: a type of sewing machine) to strips of coordinating fleece to make fringe. Another group (maybe two ladies) serge those pieces together. Then, the really important work begins.

Some Marthas sit and cut the strips into “fringe.” It is easier than giving a grandson his first haircut! And no one in Martha will criticize you, if you don’t get the cut straight!

When a number of blankets are finished, the Marthas present the blankets to Methodist Children’s Family Health in Maumelle for the children who are there.

The Martha’s in our COHUMC circle meet the third Tuesday of the month in the first classroom to the left, as you come into the front of the church. Time is 1:00 P.M. Anyone who likes to sew or cut fabric is welcome to attend! Remember to set your

We are a very small circle, who enjoys hearing a devotional, and putting our clocks back one hour on scissors and sergers to use to help the little children. Saturday night, Because we are so small, we could really use a few more “Martha’s,” so November 2 please pray about joining us. No homework! Guaranteed!!!

Contact Susan Insell at 501-226-5421 if you have any questions. Holy Chow

Saturday, Nov. 23 8:30 a.m.-noon Arkansas Foodbank in Little Rock There's plenty to do:  Receive & sort various relief supply kits to send to Sager Brown  Package meals for Food for Kids and Food for Seniors programs Wednesday, November 13 Affix labels to product packaging (great for  5:45 p.m. those who need to sit while working)

Meet in the lower parking lot of the church no later This will be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner than 8:30 a.m. and we will carpool from there. :Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean There will be a 15-minute worship service at 10 a.m. casserole, Granny Clampit cake……YUM! and our volunteers will work the 10:15-12:00 shift. Tickets are $10 per person and must be Deadline to sign up is Sunday, November 17. purchased by Sunday, November 11. They Please sign up in the Information Center or call Pastor Sheila at 922-4503 for more information. will be available between services on Sundays or in the office during the week.

Mark your calendars for

Friday, December 6th at 7:30 p.m. PEO Singers & Village Men’s as the time when the Chorus will present Village Big Band their annual Christmas Concert returns to our sanctuary for an evening of Christmas at Christ of the Hills on music done in the “big band” style. Traditional carols th will be heard in non-traditional settings. Friday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. Both groups use our wonderful music room This program is sponsored by the for rehearsals and are pleased to perform for this UMM who will use the proceeds congregation. from a “free-will” offering to There are no tickets needed for this support UMM projects. Come help support these worthwhile performance but a free-will offering will be taken. projects and enjoy some fun Bring your friends and enter into the holiday music. spirit of the season.

Holy Land 2021 4 Informational Meeting November 12, 3:00 p.m.

Hosted by Rev. Sieg Johnson

I’m very excited to announce that our Holy Land 2021 itinerary is set and our brochures are here! I will host an Informational meeting here at COH on Tuesday, November 12, at 3:00 p.m. Join us to learn more about this exciting Faith- based Journey of a Lifetime.

We depart on April 6, 2021 (right after Easter) and will visit sites such as the Sea of Galilee, Mount Hermon, Nazareth, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and much, much more. This will be my 15th journey to the Holy Land, and I’m excited to have three Arkansas United Methodist pastors joining us – Rev. Scott Gallimore of Piney Grove UMC; Rev. Allen Crum of Whitehall UMC; and Rev. Jeremy Pressgrove of Newport UMC.

Your caring helps…..

Sherry and I wish to thank our amazing congregation at Christ of the Hills for the outpouring of love in my mother’s passing. Your calls Thanks to everyone for their prayers and cards and spoken words of encouragement - and, of course, the and concerns for our daughter many who traveled to Pine Bluff for her funeral - each brought Cindy’s cancer surgery. She will not healing and comfort to know how blessed we are to be surrounded need radiation or chemo. We are with such love and caring. thankful for such a caring church, Thank you! Tom & Vera Liles Rev. Sieg & Sherry Johnson

A big thank you to the members of Christ of the Hills for your prayers and financial contributions to the mission of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) at Sager Brown in Baldwin, LA. On behalf of the COH Mission Committee, Stephanie Hicklin (right) is shown presenting a check to Mary Boudreaux, the Administrative Coordinator at Sager Brown. The 8 person team from COH along with volunteers from Florida, Texas, and Tennessee assembled 1,983 cleaning buckets that will be shipped to those in need that are victims of natural disaster. In May of 2019, UMCOR shipped 1,296 buckets and 1,344 hygiene kits to Mayflower, AR. Your donations of items for the buckets as well as your dollars make a huge difference in many lives across the nation and around the world.

How Does Stephen Ministry Work?

When someone requests a Stephen Minister, Pastor Steve Friese, our Stephen Ministry Referrals Coordinator, will meet with that person, explain what Stephen Ministry is, and help determine whether Stephen Ministry is the kind of care that person needs. Our Referrals Coordinator then matches that person with one of our available Stephen Ministers. The Stephen Minister will then call that person and begin meeting with him or her for around an hour each week as long as the need is there. Everything a care receiver says to his or her Stephen Minister is kept confidential. The Stephen Minister doesn’t try to solve problems; rather, he or she listens, cares, prays, and helps the care receiver find his or her path to healing and wholeness. In Matthew 25, Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” We have many opportunities to respond to Jesus’ great love by showing that love to others. Stephen Ministry is one way our congregation shows that love to people who have deep needs for care. You also have many opportunities to show Jesus’ love during the week. As you encounter people this week, try asking yourself, “How Can I show them Jesus today?” If you would like more information on COH Stephen Ministry, call Pastor Steve Friese, Referrals Coordinator, at 922-4503.

Thanks to the generous November Food Donations: Teen Challenge giving by YOU, Christ of the Place items in the baskets at the front door and Hills members, the Missions at the Fellowship Hall door. Committee was able to If you wish, monetary donations are always reach out to the community accepted. and the world by donating to Just put your donation in the offering envelope the following organization:

found in the pew and label it “Food Pantry” or November: Habitat For bring it by the office Humanity

Bell Ringer The monthly newsletter of Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church 700 Balearic Road Hot Springs Village, AR 71909

Rev. Siegfried S. Johnson, Senior Minister Rev. Sheila Jones, Associate Minister Sunday Morning Worship Services Pastor Steve Friese, Associate Minister Traditional Services 8:40 a.m. & 10:10 Kenny McKay, Minister of Music a.m. Dr. Ron Hall, The Gathering Worship Leader/ The Gathering Praise & Worship Service Handbell Director 10:10 a.m. Office telephone: 501-922-4503 Mid-Week Manna Worship & Office hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Communion Friday 8 a.m.-Noon 5:00 p.m. Wednesday Evening Website – www.cohumc.com Sunday Nursery available e- mail – [email protected] Adult & Children Education classes

We are a Stephen Ministry Congregation

RESERVE THESE

DATES!

Saturday nite, Nov.2 Set your clocks back 1 hour

Sunday, November 10 Commitment Sunday Wednesday November 13 5:45 p.m. Holy Chow Thanksgiving Dinner Sunday, November 17 3:00 p.m. Charge Conference at 1st UMC Malvern

Saturday, November 23 8:30 a.m. (in COH Lot) Ingathering in Little Rock Thurs. & Fri., Nov. 28 & 29 Thanksgiving - Office Closed Friday, December 6 7:30 p.m. Big Band Concert Monday, December 9 10:30 a.m. UMW Salad Luncheon Friday, December 13 7:30 p.m. PEO Singers & HSV Men’s Chorus Concert Sunday, December 15 3:00 p.m. Christmas Cantata - “And On Earth, Peace” Wednesday, December 18 5:45 p.m. Holy Chow Christmas Dinner

Tuesday, December 24 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion Office Closed Wed. Dec. 26-Fri., Dec. 28 Office Hours 9-12